South Carolina Is 2026’s Least Energy-Efficient State – WalletHub Study

With October being National Energy Awareness Month and the average U.S. family spending at least $2,000 per year on utilities, the personal-finance company WalletHub today released its report on 202 6 ’s Most & Least Energy-Efficient States, to see which states save people the most money while also saving the environment.

WalletHub compared the energy efficiency of residents’ homes and automobiles in 48 U.S. states. Due to data limitations, Alaska and Hawaii were excluded from our analysis.

Energy Efficiency in South Carolina (1=Most Energy-Efficient; 24=Avg.)

Overall rank for South Carolina: 48^th
48^th – Home Energy Efficiency
34^th – Vehicle-Fuel Efficiency
37^th – Transportation Efficiency

Source: WalletHub

Most & Least Energy-Efficient States

Overall Rank*	State	Total Score	Home Energy Efficiency Rank	Auto Energy Efficiency Rank
1	California	84.19	3	2
2	Vermont	83.67	2	7
3	New York	80.71	12	3
4	Washington	80.70	4	6
5	Massachusetts	78.72	16	1
6	Oregon	77.05	5	11
7	Colorado	76.62	7	12
8	Utah	75.13	8	15
9	Minnesota	73.51	9	19
10	Nevada	72.67	13	17
11	Wisconsin	69.29	18	9
12	Maine	68.94	11	27
13	Idaho	67.10	14	30
14	Rhode Island	66.98	20	13
15	South Dakota	64.72	1	46
16	Maryland	63.64	30	5
17	Illinois	63.56	28	8
18	New Jersey	62.32	26	10
19	Florida	61.37	34	4
20	Michigan	61.13	25	14
21	Iowa	60.94	6	45
22	New Hampshire	60.57	19	31
23	Montana	60.48	10	42
24	New Mexico	59.57	15	37
25	Arizona	58.77	24	24
26	Connecticut	57.94	31	16
27	Pennsylvania	57.56	29	23
28	Kansas	55.50	21	33
29	Ohio	54.57	33	20
30	Delaware	51.97	35	25
31	Nebraska	51.61	23	40
32	Indiana	51.05	36	21
33	North Dakota	48.37	17	47
34	Texas	48.09	27	41
35	Virginia	47.17	37	28
36	Oklahoma	45.99	32	39
37	North Carolina	43.12	40	18
38	Missouri	40.64	38	29
39	Louisiana	39.93	41	26
40	Georgia	35.65	47	22
41	Kentucky	34.14	42	34
42	Tennessee	32.68	45	32
43	Wyoming	32.27	22	48
44	Mississippi	31.67	39	43
45	Arkansas	29.98	43	36
46	West Virginia	26.09	46	38
47	Alabama	25.60	44	44
48	South Carolina	21.85	48	35
N/A**	Alaska
N/A**	Hawaii

Notes: *No. 1 = Most Energy-Efficient
**Due to data limitations, Alaska and Hawaii were excluded from our analysis.
With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

For the full report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/most-and-least-energy-efficient-states/7354

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Thomas Hyslip

Thomas Hyslip lives in Tega Cay with his wife and daughter. After 27 years in the U.S. Army and Federal Law Enforcement, he retired to pursue his passion for teaching. Tom is now an Associate Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. In 2 short years he has won 10 awards from the South Carolina Press Association, including first place in column writing, education beat reporting and best podcast.